The first year Vic and I were married, getting by financially was a struggle. We lived in a tiny apartment located in a deteriorating area of Birmingham. It had a leaky gas hot water heater that forced us to leave the windows open 24/7 even in winter so we wouldn’t suffocate from the fumes during the night. It was furnished in an eclectic mix of cast offs from relatives, flea market finds, and homemade treasures. Burglars broke into it three different times but never took anything because we didn't own a single thing valuable enough to steal. We were young, madly in love, and finally on our own, so obviously we thought it was the most awesome apartment in the history of the world.
Vic was in medical school and I taught first grade at a small Christian school. We had a very limited income, a strict budget, and $10 per week to spend on groceries. I made a lot of "rice and" dishes: rice and a smidgen of meat, rice and beans, rice and a can of soup. I devised an awesome bill-paying system. I kept the bills in a drawer in our secondhand desk arranged by due date and paid them in order every month until we ran out of money. There were always a couple left over that rotated to the top of the stack to be paid first the next month. It worked. No angry bill collectors pounded on our door and the utilities were never turned off. Life was good.
Sometime during that year, we heard a sermon at our church on the different names for God. One intriguing name comes from a complicated narrative found in Genesis chapter 22. The short version is that Abraham trudged agonizingly up a mountain to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. On the way up, he spied a ram caught in a thicket to offer to God instead. Filled with gratitude that his son was spared, Abraham named that place Jehovah Jireh, which means The Lord Who Provides. It’s a strange story but it has a happy ending and it’s the source of one of our favorite names for God. Those two words became our secret faith code to each other. Every time we were backed into a financial corner, we just smiled and said, Jehovah Jireh.
Vic made a rustic hand-carved plaque to hang on our apartment wall inscribed with that precious name for God to remind us to trust in the Lord when things get difficult. That little plaque has traveled with us everywhere we have lived. We moved 16 times in the first 14 years of our marriage, so it has been on quite a journey. It hung on walls in the homes we lived in during medical school, residency, and a stint at seminary. It wandered all over Alabama, went to North Carolina, and traveled with us to Bogota and Barranquilla, Colombia where we served as missionaries. Today it hangs on a wall by the back entryway of our home so we see it every day as we go in and out of the house
Back then, I thought of God’s provision only in the limited terms of our financial needs. Four decades later, I know that it goes far beyond that. We lived in Colombia during the dangerous drug war years. There was constant fighting and violence. An embassy was bombed a few blocks from the corner where we stood waiting for a bus. In a city of seven million people, God provided a friend who happened by and drove us to safety. Our car was stolen at gunpoint with our two small children in the backseat. God provided a way for us to get them safely out before the two armed robbers raced off with the car.
The Lord continued to provide for all our needs after we moved back to the states. When people I loved died, God provided comfort and strength to put one foot in front of the other. When relationships fractured, God provided either the grace for forgiveness or the strength to walk away. When I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, God helped me discover healthy living strategies that led to my recovery.
In the darkest moments of life, God provides his great light to help me find my way. He fills me with his presence, grace, mercy, peace, and love. He opens my eyes to see that possibilities are everywhere. He cultivates in me a sense of gratitude that comes from him alone. He teaches me to bloom where I am planted, living a faith of hope and joy.
The Lord continued to provide for all our needs after we moved back to the states. When people I loved died, God provided comfort and strength to put one foot in front of the other. When relationships fractured, God provided either the grace for forgiveness or the strength to walk away. When I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, God helped me discover healthy living strategies that led to my recovery.
In the darkest moments of life, God provides his great light to help me find my way. He fills me with his presence, grace, mercy, peace, and love. He opens my eyes to see that possibilities are everywhere. He cultivates in me a sense of gratitude that comes from him alone. He teaches me to bloom where I am planted, living a faith of hope and joy.
Jehovah Jireh. Yes, indeed!
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